As any fan of anime will tell you, the Japanese have a love/hate relationship with their technologies and their cities. Robinson's Garden frequently feels like a live-action precursor to a lot of anime's themes, though it is not well realized enough to even rise to a cartoon level.

One must assume that alot of the disorientation in the film is intentional, an apt metaphor for its displaced heroine stuck in the confines of a crowded city who discovers a verdant semi-paradise. What doesn't make sense are the absurd subplots (if that is even the right term--most of these are mere moments on-screen), like the out-of-nowhere Transcendental Meditation sequence ending in a violent beating and the heroine's vomiting. No, I'm not making that up, though I kind of wish I were.

Yamamoto has craft, there's no mistaking it. Several shots are breathtaking and play to his supposed theme brilliantly: when the heroine winds up a toy bird in a cage and it begins chirping beautifully, and the camera slowly pans back to reveal her in a cityscape underneath a gorgeous crescent moon, Yamamoto encapsulates the dichotomy of nature and man's superstructures, along with his heroine's yearnings to break free, stunningly. Unfortunately, that's about a 15 second shot in an otherwise frequently incomprehensible jumble.

The DVD

Video:
The unenhanced 1.78:1 image did not play well on my system (Sharp Aquos LCD HDTV with a high-end Sony DVD player). There were several artifacts throughout the film, including moire patterns on such unexpected items like window sills and some foliage.

Sound:
A generic stereo soundtrack is provided, with English subtitles.

Extras:
No extras on this DVD.

Final Thoughts:
This may be a cult item for some, but for the vast majority of film enthusiasts, it's going to be a massive bore and major head-scratcher. Skip it unless you're a fan of the director.

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"G-d made stars galore" & "Hey, what kind of a crappy fortune is this?" ZMK, modern prophet